#WrestleBucharest

Kayaalp Wins Historic Ninth European Title; Russia Leads Azerbaijan by 34 Points

Saturday, April 13, 2019 - 20:40 By Eric Olanowski

Share this article

BUCHAREST, Romania (April 13) – Turkey’s Riza KAYAALP authored a new page in the Turkish wrestling history books on Saturday night by winning his ninth European title. Kayaalp entered the night tied with Hamza YERLIKAYA, who also had eight European titles, but surpassed Yerlikaya with his Day 6 win at the Polyvalent Hall in Bucharest, Romania.

In his 130kg gold-medal bout, Kayaalp scored three points from a stepout and a takedown to defeat Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO), 3-0. 

Meanwhile, Vitalii KABALOEV, Stepan MARYANYAN, and Roman VLASOV circled the mat with the Russian flag draped above their head after wrapping up their Greco-Roman gold-medals matches early. Their trio of Saturday night gold medals gave the Russian Federation the 34 point lead over Azerbaijan heading into the final day of wrestling. 

Kabaloev and Vlasov both ended their matches with opening period falls, while Maryanyan picked up the technical superior win in his gold-medal match.  

In the 55kg finals, Kabaloev poured it on Romania’s Florin TITA and picked up the fall in the opening period. Before the throw that ended the match, the Russian scored a takedown, inactivity point, followed by a pair of two-point gut wrenches, and commanded the 7-0 lead before throwing his Romanian opponent to his back for the fall to win his first continental title. 

Roman Vlasov also ended his finals match by a fall in the opening period. In the 77kg gold-medal bout, Vlasov scored two four-point throws, then planted Germany’s Roland SCHWARZ on his back and won his fourth European title. 

In the 63kg finals, defending world champion Maryanyan blew through Rio Olympic bronze medalist Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR), 9-1, and won his second European title, but first since 2015. 

Maryanyan scored an inactivity point and a pair of gut wrenches and held onto the 5-1 lead before capping off his run to a gold medal with a four-point throw. 

The final gold medal of the night went to Ukraine’s Zhan BELENIUK. The second-ranked wrestler in the world at 87kg was the second non-Russian wrestler to reach the top of the podium and claim a gold medal on Day 6. In the finals, Beleniuk picked up a stepout and exposed Islam ABBASOV (AZE) using a four-point head pinch to grab his third European title with the 5-1 victory. 

The finals day of wrestling at the 2019 European Championships begins at 18:00 local time, and can be followed live on www.unitedworldwrestling.org. 

RESULTS 
Team Scores
GOLD - Russia (92 points) 
SILVER - Azerbaijan (58 points)
BRONZE -  Germany (50 points)
Fourth -Turkey (47 points)
Fifth - Georgia (41 points)

55kg
GOLD - Vitalii KABALOEV (RUS) df. Florin TITA (ROU), via fall
BRONZE - Eldaniz AZIZLI (AZE) df. Serif KILIC (TUR), 8-0 
BRONZE - Fabian SCHMITT (GER) df. Anders ROENNINGEN (NOR), 2-1

63kg
GOLD - Stepan MARYANYAN (RUS) df. Stig-Andre BERGE (NOR), 9-0 
BRONZE - Taleh MAMMADOV (AZE) df. Slavik GALSTYAN (ARM), 6-2
BRONZE - Levani KAVJARADZE (GEO) df. Michal Jacek TRACZ (POL), 5-2

77kg
GOLD - Roman VLASOV (RUS) df. Roland SCHWARZ (GER), via fall
BRONZE - Arsen JULFALAKYAN (ARM) df. Daniel ALEKSANDROV (BUL), 5-1 
BRONZE - Viktor NEMES (SRB) df. Fatih CENGIZ (TUR), 3-1 

87kg
GOLD - Zhan BELENIUK (UKR) df. Islam ABBASOV (AZE), 5-1 
BRONZE - Denis KUDLA (GER) df. Mikalai STADUB (BLR), 3-1 
BRONZE - Erik SZILVASSY (HUN) df. Eividas STANKEVICIUS (LTU), 2-1 

130kg 
GOLD - Riza KAYAALP (TUR) df. Iakobi KAJAIA (GEO), 3-0 
BRONZE - Alin ALEXUC CIURARIU (ROU) df. Heiki NABI (EST), 1-1 
BRONZE - Sergey SEMENOV (RUS) df. Tuomas LAHTI (FIN), 4-0 

#WrestleAthens

Greece gets Greco finalist at U17 Worlds; Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan keep up

Tuesday, July 29, 2025 - 15:26 By Vinay Siwach

Share this article

ATHENS, Greece (July 29) -- Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan continued their superb show in Greco-Roman at the World U17 Championships in Athens, Greece by earned two more spots in the finals.

On day one, the two countries, along with Georgia, were the only ones to enter multiple wrestlers in the final. On Tuesday, they added more while hosts Greece managed to enter one wrestler in the final, just the third-ever in Greco at World U17 Championships.

Asian U17 champion and returning bronze medalist at 71kg Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) led the way for his country, reaching the final after beating returning silver medalist from 65kg Yusif AHMADLI (AZE), 9-5, in the semifinal.

Ahmadli raced to a 5-0 lead from par terre but Valiev scored two stepouts before the break to cut the lead to 5-2. He got par terre in the second but failed to score any points. However, another stepout made it 5-4. Valiev kept pushing the pace of the bout and managed an awkward throw for four points. Azerbaijan challenged in vain as Valiev got the win.

It is at this weight class that Greece will look to bag a gold medal as Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE) became just the third finalist for Greece at a World U17 Championships after he defeated Marlen MEIRBEKULY (KAZ), 9-8, in a thrilling semifinal. 

Soulis led 8-4 with 10 seconds remaining in the bout when Meirbekuly hit a four-pointer to make it 8-8. However, Soulis had the criteria with a scoring action of four points, two points and two points while Meirbekuly had actions of one point, one point, two points and four points.

The second finalist for Uzbekistan came at 51kg after Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) reversed the par terre and then scored four gut-wrenches to beat Polat KARADENIZ (TUR), 9-1, in the semifinals. He will face Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE) in the final who got a stepout with 18 seconds left against Asian U17 champion Islam KURBANOV (KGZ) to beat him 4-3 in the other semifinal.

Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ) became the star for Kyrgyzstan as he surprised European champion Abdurrahman HUSEYNLI (AZE) with a big headlock throw for four points to start the semifinal. A lost challenge from Azerbaijan made it 5-0 for Kumarbekov.

With no passivity call in the second period, Kumarbekov kept his pace and Huseynli tried some desperate moves, getting for a takedown which gave Kumarbekov a 7-0 win.

It would have been an Kyrgyzstan-Iran final but Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) had other ideas. He rallied from behind to beat Benyamin KHEZLI (IRI).

The Iranian took just 20 seconds to get on board with a takedown and turn that was only awarded after a challenge from Iran. He took a 4-0 lead against Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) who used some solid arm-drags to score a stepout and then a takedown to cut it to 4-3.

As the time ran out, Zhangazhol dished out one more attack and got the headlock for four points. While Khezli got a counter turn, that was not enough for a win as Zhangazhol kept his 7-6 lead. Iran challenged the final move but it was a clear throw from Zhangazhol. The loss left Khezli in tears.

At 60kg, European bronze medalist Denys SEREDIN (UKR) suffered a heartbreaking loss in the semifinals as Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) used a front headlock throw for four points with just 00:03 left on the clock to win 5-1 and earn a place in the final.

Seredin had defended well for the full match and was leading 1-1 on criteria but he let his guard down for the final five seconds of the bout.

Ysakbaev will take European silver medalist Ali NAZAROV (AZE) in the final after the Azerbaijani defeated Abolfazl ZARE (IRI) 1-1 in the other semifinal. Nazarov was winner based on the criteria that he scored the first point in an 1-1 scoreline match.

At 92kg, Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW), who was seventh last year, booked a spot in the final this year after a 3-1 win over Ionut PATRU (ROU). Both wrestler got par terre positions but Patru was docked two points for headbutting in the second period which proved to be the difference between the two.

Winning the gold, however, will be a big ask for Kasyan as he faces Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) in the final after he cleaned up Ahmet UZUN (TUR) 7-0 in the other semifinal.

RESULTS

45kg
GOLD: Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ) vs. Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ)

SF 1: Nurkerim KUMARBEKOV (KGZ) df. Abdurrahman HUSEYNLI (AZE), 7-0
SF 2: Kuanyshbek ZHANGAZHOL (KAZ) df. Benyamin KHEZLI (IRI), 8-6

51kg
GOLD: Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) vs. Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE)

SF 1: Hikmat HAGVERDIYEV (AZE) df. Islam KURBANOV (KGZ), 4-3
SF 2: Otabek TURSUNOV (UZB) df. Polat KARADENIZ (TUR), 10-1

60kg
GOLD: Ali NAZAROV (AZE) vs. Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ)

SF 1: Amangeldi YSAKBAEV (KGZ) df. Denys SEREDIN (UKR), 6-1
SF 2: Ali NAZAROV (AZE) df. Abolfazl ZARE (IRI), 1-1

71kg
GOLD: Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) vs. Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE)

SF 1: Behruzbek VALIEV (UZB) df. Yusif AHMADLI (AZE), 9-5
SF 2: Dimitrios SOULIS (GRE) df. Marlen MEIRBEKULY (KAZ), 9-8

92kg
GOLD: Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) vs. Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW)

SF 1: Amirsam MOHAMMADI (IRI) df. Ahmet UZUN (TUR), 7-0
SF 2: Kanstantsin KASYAN (UWW) df. Ionut PATRU (ROU), 3-1